Divine Comedy
by The Sandman
Summary: Dark fic. Rated R for violence, language, and...well, violence mostly. Did I mention this was going to be a dark fic? One mechwarrior is shattered by tragedy. Can he put himself back together?
1. Savage Justice

This story is intended for people over 18, but only because kids shoot each other if they hear the word 'fuck' or witness a man getting a paper cut. If you can't watch R-rated movies, then chances are your minds are too easily corrupted to read this filth. Turn back now! I'm experimentally using "**break**"s forscene changes.

**break **

Revenge. Retribution.

Whichever path I chose, it can only result in death. My own or my enemies'.

There are no other roads left to me now. All possibilities of starting over long since discarded like so much trash. Unacceptable.

I drew the sword from cleft armor and body, spurts of blood and gel sealant jetting up in vermillion rain, lightly baptizing me in an unholy mist.

The massive form slowly toppled backward, knees buckling, crashing to the slick marble floor.

It was done. The deed was done.

I grabbed on to the wall with a feeble hand to steady myself, but ended up just sliding down it leaving bright streaks across the bullet-ridden surface.

Get up.

I need to get up.

I need to get up _now_.

I try. I manage to get to a crouch before losing strength and falling back against the wall. I feel like a Warhammer is sitting on me.

Not long now. Blood -my own- was soaking up my shirt and dripping down into my pants and boots. Absurdly, I was glad that I didn't wear white anymore. The Chinese-red stains would have been impossible to get out.

I fell down to my side, not minding the still-warm spent bullet casings that lay scattered around me.

It didn't hurt anymore. Nothing did. Not even my soul.

I was cold though. And tired. Really tired.

So this is death. Death, my old friend. How clichéd can you be, you ugly bastard?

At least I would have a heck of a welcoming party waiting for me in Hell.

Ah, I wasn't alone. He was here. I felt glad, despite everything. Relieved even.

"It's almost over." I heard him say clearly. I couldn't keep my eyes open.

How did it come to this?

"Xiao." Oh, right. Xiao was dead now. But that was ok. Great guy, even if he did cause all this shit.

"Do you remember?"

How long does it take for a man to die of blood loss anyway? You're just trying to keep me distracted. Won't do any good. But all right, I'll bite.

I delved back into memory…

**break**

Xiao needed to shoot something.

"Oh, for crying out loud, cheer up! It's a promotion, not a death sentence!"

Xiao looked away, trying to contain the raging feelings of anger within. A _white devil _who called himself "Sao Wei Clay Kensington" moved back into his field of vision.

"Come on…what's really bothering you? I know you've wanted the rank for a long time. What's up?"

Xiao probably would have growled and started shouting at his friend at this point if Jen hadn't slid her cool soft hand into his. He glanced into her brown eyes, reading her desire for calm. Sang Wei Jen Wu had always been the light of his life, ever since he joined the 2nd St. Ives Lancers. He loved her very soul and he wouldn't refuse her anything. She knew his reasons, though he had never told her, but she wanted to hear the truth anyway. But to Xiao, voicing his personal problem and gripes in public was like pulling teeth, never mind that Clay was one of the best only friends he ever had. She encouraged him confess his reason to his friend with a look and a squeeze of his hand. It helped. Somewhat.

He took a deep breath, and looked up into the sunlit skies of Olivia. His eyes traced the twisting contrails of aerospace fighters spinning around in tight maneuvers,

His two comrades waited, knowing that Xiao would answer when he was ready.

After a minute had passed, he turned to them and said, "Do you remember what Instructor Pu said to us when we graduated?"

Clay's face alternated between admiration and hatred at the name. Jen was almost unreadable, but he detected a sense of amusement in her eyes. All three had both fond and painful memories of the old coot back at the academy. Well, less painful for Jen, as she excelled at the long aerobics drills he always threw at them.

"He said a great many things." Jen replied.

"The man never shut up." Clay groaned.

Xiao rolled his eyes at him and continued, "Specifically, he said it was the man behind the medals who counted, not the medals themselves. He said that those who gained such trivial trinkets and hid themselves behind titles and ranks without earning them was doing both a disservice to himself and to his people."

"You actually listened to that old fart? I slept through the entire ceremony."

"Yes, I know. You snored through the whole thing as well."

Jen cut off any reply Clay might have made to his defense. "Is that what troubles you? Xiao, you deserved your promotion. You are a good warrior and a good commander. It was only a matter of time before you made Sao Shao. You earned your place." Her voice held firm conviction and belief in her words.

Xiao smiled appreciatively at her but shook his head. "Did I? Or was my place given to me because of who I am?"

"You are saying that you are only Sao Shao because the old men figured out you're a Liao-?" Xiao cut Clay off with an angry hiss and a glare.

Clay laughed off the look with a wave of his hand. Xiao knew he meant to mention the name, just to annoy him. The man was much smarter than he often appeared. Xiao wondered idly why he was friends with one who took such joy in tormenting him.

"Yes," said Xiao after a moment. "That's _exactly_ what I am saying. Because of who I am, they gave me this empty title just to honor me, or some crap like that. Then they shuffled me to this dump of a world to keep me out of trouble and to perform parades to the local farmers. And let's not forget, to baby-sit a bunch of snot nosed wannabe-warriors!"

His voice had been growing louder with anger with each point. Nearby civilians glanced their way. A fierce scowl from Xiao reminded them to mind their own business. Another touch from Jen calmed him down again. He didn't often get this angry, but when it came to this topic and his upbringing, it just touched off an aching nerve he'd been nursing all his life.

Clay frowned. "Well, I'll give you that last part. Those punks think they're soooo cute with their Immortal Warrior antics, just makes me want to grab them by the neck and start shaking them like rag doll." He supported this statement with the exaggerated motions of his hands.

He paused. "But really, Olivia aint all that bad. Sure, the sky being purple is weird as all shit, but hey, it's sunny every day! And the locals love to hear about us, don't deny it, you like to tell them about all the places you've been too."

"We'll get our chance, Xiao. They can't keep us out of action forever. We're top-notch pilots. The brass can't pass us up." Jen said softly.

Xiao shook his head again. "They can't keep you out of combat. But they can keep _me_ out. It would be a simple matter to transfer me to another garrison unit." He sighed heavily, "Not only that, my parents will be wanting me back. If…when they figure out I'm here, they'll send somebody after me. Once that happens…" He trailed off.

Sensing a topic they really didn't want to get into, Clay changed the subject. "Hey, why don't we get to the fair already? This is _my_ off day as well as yours. All this doom and gloom is starting to depress me."

"We wouldn't want _that_." Jen said dryly. "Xiao, come, I wish to get some cotton candy."

"You mean you want to clean out a candy store and stiff me with the bill."

She pouted in a very unconvincing manner and said, "Is that a no?"

Now, Xiao had been with Jen for a good two years now, so he knew all her tricks. Knew them. But not immune to them.

She followed up her attack with a classic puppy-dog look. A sad puppy dog. In the rain.

With daggers in his heart, he stammered out, "Uhh…no. I didn't mean 'no' as in 'no'…I just left my wallet in my quarters."

"Here." Clay thrust the mentioned item into Xiao's face, but was almost immediately intercepted and hijacked by Jen. Watching his wallet being given away, he gave Clay a look that said quite plainly, "Traitor."

Which was almost immediately followed by, "…Why do you have my wallet?"

"Why must you confuse the issue with such trivial questions? Jen, go get yourself some sugar. We'll meet back at the rides." Said Clay. Jen smirked and excused herself, but only after Xiao caught her and gave her a kiss. "Ah, if you're finished there, shall we go?"

While Jen sprinted away, giving them a rather smug smirk, Xiao grumbled slightly, and deciding that the whole wallet issue wasn't worth pursuing, began to stroll up the fair grounds.

**break**

They had been stationed at Olivia's only city, a massive agglomeration of glass and steel, which had sprung up around the even larger spaceport. The Humner Interstellar Trade Center was the key to Olivia's economic welfare. The farmers of this world sold their crops here through wealthy merchant middlemen. To amuse clients from long travels, the locals had also built a modest fair, filled with rides and entertainment.

It was common for Zhong Shao Warrens to give weeklong leaves to soldiers once a month. Realistically, there was nothing to defend in the sector. The only thing Olivia had to worry about were pirates, and most of the populous couldn't even remember the last time the planet had been raided. After all, a pirate would have to be pretty daft or starving to attack a world that only had vegetables to plunder. Which, Xiao supposed, was exactly why his unit was here. Or more precisely, why _he_ was here. He sighed.

Clay took it upon himself to cheer up his friend by dragging him into every little parlor game he could find. Xiao wasn't entirely sure why he blasting pop up plastic clowns with a water gun, but he was certain it wasn't for the blue colored goggled eyed stuffed animals they were giving them as prizes. He sure as hell didn't want them, and he knew Jen wouldn't either. If she were here, she'd probably make him give them away to random children she pointed out. Either way, he was losing money. Which irked him.

"So why are you so cranky today, anyway?" Clay had apparently decided it was a good time to start a conversation.

Xiao shot another target, which slapped rather pathetically onto the table. "I did not get much sleep last night." God this game was boring.

"And I bet I know why." If Xiao had bothered to look, he would have seen the other man leering suggestively at him.

But Xiao being Xiao remained oblivious for a good two minutes before what was being implied dawned on him. His eyes widened comically and he whipped his head to face his accuser. In doing so, he accidentally shot a teenage boy in the side of the head with a stream of cold water.

Ignoring the shout of surprise and outrage, he sputtered, "What?…No!"

Clay grinned. He was amused that Xiao was a bit dense when it came to such things, but when he finally figured out what was being said, he went ballistic and defensive. It was one of the reasons he hung around the man. One would have thought Xiao would have caught on after two years.

"Come on, man. She didn't go back to her quarters yesterday, and you know it's right beside mine. Cough up the details."

Xiao turned his face to the side and narrowed his eyes. "Unlike you, my friend, I keep my sexual life _private_."

"Honesty is the basis of all relationships, Xiao. Do you value our relationship?" Clay was still going for the kill, apparently.

"Alright, alright. Fine." Throwing his hands up in exasperation. "I slept with her."

"Good go-"

"But I didn't have sex with her."

"…What?"

"We cuddled."

"……What kind of excuse of a man are you?"

"…Shut up." It was about this time when Xiao noticed the silence.

Glancing around, he was terribly embarrassed to note that most of the surrounding citizens were paying a little too much attention to their conversation. The boy next to him, in particular, had forgotten all about the soaking he had recently gotten and was openly grinning at him.

With his head held a little higher than normal, he spun on his heel and marched away with as much dignity as he could muster. Clay followed close behind making no attempt to stifle his laughter.

Bastard

Before he could get far, Xiao's Wrist Comp chirped somewhat cheerfully. Ignoring his still snickering friend the best he could, he activated it and spoke.

"Wei? Report."

"Sao Shao!" A filtered tinny voice replied excitedly. Urgently. "We're under attack!"

Clay shut up remarkably quickly.

"Give me details." Xiao pressed.

"We just detected them. Pirates, we think. Three, maybe four dropships inbound. Sao Shao, one of them is headed for the city!"

Both Xiao and Clay snapped their eyes to the sky, already hearing the growing rumbling roar of engines designed to keep thousands of tons of metal and machine in the air. A Leopard-class dropship flashed past, the super heated exhaust igniting tree tops and tents, sending buts of burning materials and light-weight trash whirling through the in the wake of it's stormy passing. The civies, of course, did what came naturally came to them. That is, of course, they scattered in all directions screaming their heads off.

Xiao and Clay hurried to the parade grounds where they saw the Leopard swoop down for a landing and saw that it was beginning to deploy mechs. A Rifleman took a few unsteady steps out of the open bays, followed by a Vindicator, a Panther, and an Urbanmech.

When the four mechs were clear, the Leopard's engines flared again to lift the dropship into the sky again. The mechs turned west and began their slow but steady march, occasionally firing off a weapon, with masses of people dodging their foot falls.

"The mechs." Clay realized. He turned to Xiao urgently. "They're heading to the compound!"

Xiao's eyes widened marginally. He spoke quickly into the Wrist Comp. "All warriors must get into gear and mobilize. Defense forces at full alert. We'll be there shortly."

"I propose we find an alternate means of transportation." Clay said dryly. He gestured at the milling swarms of panicked citizens and fires. "I'm not walking through that."

Xiao paused to watch a still-occupied ferris wheel roll away before walking off. "This way."

He made his way to a small black and red sporty hovercar. One glance inside told him it was being used by a teenage couple, who were busy enough to not pay any attention to the destruction outside. Xiao knocked on the glass of the driver's window. Startled eyes stared up at him. "Excuse me, sir. I must commandeer this vehicle for the defense of your planet."

The man inside gave Xiao the finger.

Without a word more, Xiao drove his fist into the window, shattering it. Ignoring the curses and screams, he unlocked the door, opened it, grabbed the man and tossed him out. Xiao swung into the driver's seat and then turned to give the woman next to him his 'fuck with me only if you have a deathwish' glare. She, quite wisely, exited vehicle hastily. Clay stepped around her and took the vacated seat. "You enjoyed that didn't you?"

Yes Xiao inwardly replied. "Buckle up." With a sweep of his hand, he collected various articles of discarded clothing and tossed them out the window to the shocked-looking man sitting on his ass. "Thank you for your cooperation." Xiao told him flatly as the hovercar rose into the air.

The engines shrieked as Xiao punched it up to maximum throttle, and the little vehicle sped through the legs of the ponderous Rifleman. Jinking to avoid a burst of fire from the Urbanmech, Xiao and Clay were quickly out of range and sight.

**break**

"Here they come." Someone murmured on the comm.

Indeed, although the enemy mechs were still invisible, the dust cloud the pirates were throwing up was clearly visible, even from 2 kilometers away. Recon stated that the enemy force was a company sized mech force of mixed tonnages, but since "Recon" was an old man in an aging Peregrine VTOL, Xiao didn't put too much faith in the information.

The two Thumper Artillery Vehicles had begun their preliminary bombardment an hour ago, the guns cracking the chilly air every few seconds. As with Recon, he couldn't imagine that they were doing much good. The guns on the vehicles looked like they had been left neglected in the rain for a few years, and there were rust patches all over. And the fact that the first couple of shots landed 3 clicks short of their target did nothing to boost his confidence.

Actually, at the moment, Xiao didn't much trust anything that was not directly under his command. His company and the 2 platoons of Battlesuit Infantry that answered to him were quite prepared, crisp with discipline, and eager for a fight. Under Xiao's high standards, every single plate of armor was polished to a sheen and glimmered brightly in the sun so much, it was as if the company wished to blind their foes with reflected sunlight. Weapons were oiled and tested for efficiency. Xiao had his warriors train and drill almost constantly for the duration of their stay up till now. They were ready for anything, and were certainly more than a match for mere pirates.

Positioned at the outskirts of the city, his troops still had plenty of cover to hide behind. Of course, the damages were still expected to be astronomical to the warehouses and suburban homeowners, but at least the main structures would remain untouched. As it was, Xiao would just have to try and keep the fight short and contained.

The initial battle had gone badly, the raiders had caused quite a bit of damage to the fair grounds in the 20 minutes it took for the Company to mobilize. Once the pirates saw the opposition, they didn't stick around for a fight, seeing as they were outnumbered. Xiao had to rein in some his warriors from chasing the cowardly bandits, feeling that it would be too easy for them to be ambushed. Perhaps he should have allowed the pursuit. Many of the warriors were eager for blood, having been out of battle for almost 2 years. It couldn't have hurt to take out a few of the bandits. It might have even discouraged the rest from advancing as they were doing now.

At the same time as the raid on the city, the pirates had hit the training academy. Ill-prepared for such an attack, most of the cadets were dead now, vaporized when the enemy had turned their guns on their barracks or burned alive trying to start up their antique mechs. Only 3 cadets got away, and only two brought mechs with them. A Hunchback with no guns and a Grasshopper with no arms now guarded the Space Port. Which, in Xiao's view, was only slightly better than nothing.

"Sao Shao, enemy contacts passing 1.5 klicks"

"Xie xie, Sao Wei." Xiao thanked his subordinate and switched on the main frequency for his company. "Attention, warriors of the 2nd St. Ives Lancers! For many of you, this shall be your first combat. If so, keep foremost in mind your comrades and the citizens you protect. Support one another and you can expect the same. Use your ammo efficiently, and do not be daunted by your foe. This is but a taste of what you have lived and trained for. Serve your people with pride." With that, he ended and began the final checks to his weapons.

Of course, Clay wouldn't leave it at that and opened the command channel.

"Nice little sp-" he began flippantly, but was abruptly interrupted by Jen.

"Shut up Sao-wei, or I will challenge you to another sparring match."

"Yes Sang-wei!"

Xiao allowed himself a small grin.

"Enemy in range. Missiles away!"

**break**

It was not going well. As in quite badly. In the first five minutes, the Lancers had driven the pirates back quite effectively. The disorganized charging pirates were scythed down by salvos from the disciplined ranks of mechs. Others were crippled or obliterated by wandering into the minefields Xiao had the Fa Shih infantry conceal. Not a single mech managed to close within 300 meters of the entrenched defenders, either destroyed or turned way by the hellish fire the Lancers unleashed.

But they kept coming.

Recon was clearly blind. By his count, Xiao estimated that he was facing nearly a regiment of enemy mechs. The wrecked bodies of destroyed mechs littered the field, but there were more to take their place. Already, Xiao had more than a few warriors reporting that they were overheating or out of ammo. Some were both. But still they fought on with all the savagery that he expected of them for another 3 minutes, gaining kill after kill after kill.

Then the heavy and assault mechs arrived.

Sao Wei Ami Tong died first. Her Cataphract having long since run out of ammo for her heavy autocannon and LRMs, was literally torn apart by an Awesome. Having closed to make use of her medium lasers, she was easy prey for the sustained barrage of PPCs fired at her. Xiao had watched her death, being too far away to support, but not too far away to see. Her mech's limbs had exploded one by one as she attempted to defend herself. Then as she lay helpless, the assault mechs stepped on her cockpit with all of its 80 tons.

Sao Wei Kun Ji had died next 15 seconds later. By then, Heavy LRM carriers had arrived to bombard the Lancer position. Kun and his Huron Warrior had been obliterated in an instant by more than 200 guided missiles. Sao Weis Chen Yu and Sun Yun followed about 30 seconds later.

Then Sang Wei Vincent Pao in his Sha Yu fell prey to a BattleMaster. A newly refitted model, the BattleMaster packed more than enough firepower to crush the medium mech. Multiple gauss strikes to the torso drove Grayson into the ground. The BattleMaster followed up with a flurry of laser pulses and high-explosive SRMs. The Sha Yu and its pilot burned.

Xiao ordered the retreat. "All Lancers, retreat to Nav Delta immediately! Repeat-" He paused to deliver a crushing blow to a charging Dragon's cockpit with his Hatchetman's club. "Fall back immediately!"

The Lancers stood as one and abandoned their positions. None of them fled in panic, he was proud to note, giving ground but keeping up a steady barrage of fire. But a small part of him wished they would just run.

He turned and came face to face with a hulking Crusader. He barely avoided firing into it, having just barely glimpsed the green forms extracting themselves from various rents in the armor.

"Sao Wei Kensington, get your people out of here." As Xiao fired an autocannon round into the ash and smoke choked air, one of the Fa Shih Battlesuits paused to look up at him.

"Yes Sao Shao." For once, Clay's voice was devoid of humor and filled with exhaustion. Then- "Sao Shao!"

Xiao spun around of the warning, unsure of who had uttered the warning, but reacting to the urgency of the voice. His hasty horizontal swing with the axe smashed away the huge hand that was reaching for him. The BattleMaster. How did it get so close?!

Xiao barely had the time to think as the huge battlemech punched at his mech's head with the other fist. Wrenching on the controls, he dodged the punch. The battlefist narrowly missed crushing Xiao into red paste, but clipped his advanced sensors array. Immediately, red lights lit up his sensors board and his targeting screen exploded into static. The computer informed him in an unnervingly calm female voice that he was effectively blind. Not that it mattered in this type of fight.

He bent down and grabbed for something. Anything. His fist came up with a flashy silvery blue sports car now crushed like a beer can and some amount of asphalt and dirt. With a mental shrug, he launched the improvised projectile at the Battlemaster. The car crumpled on the mech's broad chest, flattening itself, and exploded a half-second later from the fuel within. The Battlemaster hardly budged. Neither did the dirt do much damage, other than giving the assault an orangey tint on the cockpit bubble. That was all right. The whole thing was a feint for his hatchet anyway. The club chopped into the Battlemaster's right bicep in a spray of shredded armor, sparks, and ruined Myomer fibers. Now the Battlemaster staggered.

Xiao spun the hatchet for an underhanded swing and slammed it into the Battlemaster's crotch. Unfortunately, lacking certain vulnerable components and being protected by heavy sloped armor, the blow did little but lift the Battlemaster up onto its toes for a second. The Battlemaster slugged the Hatchetman squarely in the chest and Xiao went flying. The medium mech crashed into and through several homes before coming to a rumbling halt. Dazed and with his view obscured by curtains –sunflower yellow of all things- he struggled to right his mech.

He might have succeeded if the Battlemaster hadn't planted a foot on his chest and slammed the Hatchetman back into the ground. Xiao's teeth clicked together and he tasted blood. When the reverberations finally stopped, he fought off the pain and looked up slightly startled. At some point of time, the curtains had fallen off. This, of course, gave him a clear view of the insides of the gauss rifle pointed directly at the Hatchetman's face. He saw the smooth gunmetal tube, the mag coils, and the silvery basketball sized bullet at the far end of the chamber, ready to pulverize him and a good amount of real estate behind him.

Wasn't his life supposed to flash before his eyes? Right before death, right? He felt so cheated. Oh wait, there it goes.

Then everything started to happen at once. There was a flash of light.

Xiao did not look away.

Thus he saw his salvation.

55 tons of SHD-5d Shadowhawk dropped down the skies and smashed into the Battlemaster's shoulders like a Hammer from Heaven. The weight on the Hatchetman's chest increased and then abruptly vanished as the assault mech struggled to remain upright. Ignoring the suddenly blaring alarms and nonchalant warnings from his computer, he watched entranced as the Shadowhawk landed nimbly, as if a ballet dancer piloted it. Or a highly trained assassin. Jen reached out and tried to wrench the Battlemaster away from Xiao, twin fists digging into the massive mech's shoulders. Having partially subdued the enemy, she was shouting into the comm.

"Get up! Get up, Xiao!"

Xiao pulled his battered mech to a partial sitting position, and bracing one hand to support him, fired some medium pulse lasers into the Battlemaster. Unfortunately the LBX autocannon had been reduced to scrap by now, and the lasers did pitiful damage to the enemy.

Struggling to rise, Xiao almost missed a new danger. Freezing ice crystallized in his stomach as he, for the first time during the battle, felt fear.

An Atlas was moving directly behind Jen's Shadowhawk.

He sucked in breath to warn her, but then the Battlemaster chose to fire back at him.

Suddenly, he and his mech's head was high in the air, pressed down heavily by gravity, the rumbling and chilled air driving his breathe out. And then he was floating to the sound of fluttering cloth.

He had ejected.

Frantically, he began to peer down to see the battle.

Flash.

Heat.

An irresistible wall of force.

Tumbling.

Glimpses of whirling sheets and vegetation.

Pain.

Blackness.

**break**

He awoke from his dreamless sleep to the sounds of machinery and the low incomprehensible babble of people. Even before he opened his eyes, the scent of blood and anti-septic told him exactly where he was. A field hospital. And considering his head felt like it had been split open with a rock, he logically concluded that he had been injured. Because of the pain, it took him a few minutes before he even dared to open his eyes. Bright white shafts of pain lanced through eye slits to stab deep into his head. He flinched, and tried again more slowly.

He was indeed in a hospital. And…it was…silent?

He looked left and right as he sat up in his bed. There was no one to be seen.

Xiao slowly, grimacing with pain, swung his legs over the side and stood. Glass crunched under standard issue boots.

Dizzily, he walked out of his room, using his hand to support himself upon the wall, leaving clean streaks in the dried blood stains.

Nobody outside.

"Hello?" His call was absorbed into the dark hallway before him. Flickering light attracted his eye. He stumbled toward it.

Oh, there was someone.

Sitting on a table, the girl faced away from him, beneath a partially broken swinging light. Xiao knew who it was. He had spent too much time gazing at her not to know her form.

"Jen…?" Hesitantly, he moved toward her. She didn't respond.

"Are you ok?" He touched her shoulder.

Her head fell off.

As he stared down into her eyes, he drew in a breath to scream and-

**break**

Xiao jerked upright in his bed. He felt hands restraining him and he fought back. Lashing out with an arm, he threw off a doctor and a female nurse. He balled his fist and hit something…hard. Someone choked and cursed colorfully. Then arms grabbed him from behind and lifted him bodily into the air. He kicked, screamed, and snapped back his head, but all his flailing couldn't reach his foe. Gradually, he began to make sense of the shouting. He ceased struggling.

After a minute, Wu Lin, the big mechwarrior of a Sha Yu let him down. Clay approached him warily, rubbing his right shoulder. "Are you ok, man?"

"Yes." Then, Xiao's head snapped up as he remembered. "Jen. Where is she?"

Clay looked uncomfortable.

Xiao stood slowly and got up in his face. "Where…is…she?"

Clay looked away. "She…didn't get to the rendezvous point. We don't know where she is."

**break**

It took three weeks before Confederation Reserves arrived. Xiao and his remaining forces made good use of that time, staging hit and run attacks. They drove the pirates out of the city by the second week, and proceeded to hunt for their camps.

Xiao himself was worn ragged. His Hatchetman was utterly unrecoverable, but the engineers managed to salvage a Dragon off the battlefield for his use. He handled it fairly well, using it to lead four of the raids personally.

He hadn't slept much. Hadn't eaten much either. He spent a great amount of time poring over maps and overseeing mech repairs. He was keeping himself busy to avoid worrying over Jen and ignore the terrible dread he could feel in the pit of his stomach. They hadn't found her body. The Shadowhawk was a ravaged husk when they found it, devoured by the Battlemaster's overloaded fusion reactor. The only thing giving him hope now was that the ejection seat was missing, which would logically mean that she had escaped. None of the Lancers had seen her ejection, but Xiao clung to that hope like a life preserver.

The fact that she hadn't turned up would mean that either she was incapacitated. Or she was captured. Some of the locals had mentioned that they had seen the pirates hauling away prisoners, but couldn't give any details. So Xiao kept searching.

The 2nd Confed Reserve dropships in high orbit and the fighters that accompanied them had been helpful in identifying several possible camp sites. None of them were occupied, but Xiao knew they had been until fairly recently. It wasn't until the fourth week until he found her.

"Careful Xiao, it might be a trap." Clay was saying.

"It will be fine, Clay. Just keep watch so that no one shoots me off, kay?" With that, Xiao swung open the Dragon's cockpit hatch. He climbed and swung his way down from the mech's shoulders to the ground meters below. Clay's Fa-Shih troopers were already securing the camp site.

"Anything?" Xiao asked over the net, checking his submachine gun and his light body armor.

"Empty. Like the rest. No booby traps so far."

"I'm coming in."

The camp was in a meadow of bright blue flowers, surrounded by trees of varying heights. Large tracks made from mechs and tracked vehicles tore up the sod, making it clear that the pirates had indeed been here.

"Over here." One of the hulking Fa-Shih waved him over. Xiao jogged over, where Clay pointed down the hill.

Xiao blinked as he saw the cave entrance. He hadn't noticed it before.

They entered it. The dark interior was pitch black until one of the troopers ignited and tossed a flare. Mostly for Xiao's benefit. The battlearmor could see just fine without it.

Cautiously, they advanced. After a minute, Xiao paused at a turn.

"What is it, Sao Shao?" One of the Fa-Shih asked. Xiao motioned for silence.

There! He heard it again. A ringing noise, a rising scale of three trilling notes. He followed it. The Fa Shih were close behind.

Xiao traced the noise to a mound of dirt.

Getting down on his knees, he began to dig with his suddenly shaking hands.

"Xiao! What are you doing?! It could be a bomb!"

Xiao ignored them all, clawing with his fingers even more desperately as savage emotions of dread and horror swirled through him.

Then he found her hand. He seized it with both hands by the wrist and pulled it up, crying out as a muddy nude body flew into his arms. A body with no head. One of the troopers threw up in his armor and had to be helped out so he didn't choke.

Xiao just cried hysterically, hugging the body to himself. Clay said nothing.

After a few minutes, Xiao stopped crying long enough to fish around in the mud. His hand came up with a small pic recorder. Trembling, he wiped the screen and activated it.

A smiling man with red hair, dressed in camouflaged fatigues greeted him. "Hello. You are probably Confederation lackeys. I greet you. My name is Lord Henry Carmody. My comrades and I, that is the rest of the Dark Cloud Legion, want to thank you for your gracious hospitality on this world of…" He glanced off the screen. "…Olivia. That's it. Charming place really. Lots of entertainment. Nice weird purple sky. Lots of people to shoot. Hell, not all that bad really.

I really apologize that we had to be so violent, but to be frank…" Carmody leaned in leering like a fellow conspirator. "…you were in our way. Still, it was all fun. Oh, by the way, we've been having fun with your little mechwarrior here. She's quite a handful." He smiled and the screen swiveled to reveal…

"Jen." Xiao whispered.

She was severely beaten. She had bandages around her legs, dark purplish bruises stained her skin, and her arm was almost certainly broken. But she still glared at Carmody with an acidic glare.

"Normally, I wouldn't do this but…well, she's no use as a hostage now. By the time you see this, we'll already be prepping to leave now that we've got what we want." Carmody's voice dropped to a whisper. "And if you're her pretty boyfriend, then watch _real_ close. You killed a lot of my men, and now I'm gonna be making some retributions, so I am." And then Carmody advanced on Jen and proceeded to…..to…..

With a sharp crack, the image winked out. Xiao's hands had cracked the data slate. He stood there quietly for a few minutes before savagely throwing them into the distance. He heard the impact of plastic on hollow plastic. He followed the noise again and came to a plastic bucket. With a shaking hand, he grasped it and tilted it.

And then dropped it altogether as he fell backwards on his ass and hands.

Jen stared back at him. Her eyes had dried into position days ago, but they still unnervingly managed to stare directly into Xiao's own.

Clay came up behind him. He struggled to think of something to do or say. But he stopped when he saw an odd red glow. He quickly magnified the image and found himself looking at a red timer. One minute and thirty eight seconds left.

"Shit!"

Shouting for his team to get out, he grabbed Xiao and lifted him easily with one armored arm, and charged back out of the cave. He prayed he was making the right turns.

When he just reached the cave's opening, an explosion behind him threw him to the ground. Quickly shielding Xiao with his own body, he felt mud and rocks bounce off his shielded back.

When he clawed his way out of the rubble, he noticed Xiao wasn't moving.

Xiao's face was completely blank, staring out into nothing.

He was still like that several hours later. Even the news that the Lancers had found the enemy dropships hadn't phased him. They would attack within the day.

**break**

Dark rain beat upon his black and gray armor like an unholy baptism. He looked down upon his foes, hating them for all their existence. The Dropship, egg-shaped and bulbous, listed to the side as Capellan fighters forced it down. The other Dropships had already grounded, and the Leopard was destroyed in mid air, but this particular vessel was more fool-hardy. The filthy pirates fought back with bright bolts off PPC and laser fire, weapons flashing water to steam and filling the darkness with strobes of lightning.

The fighters would not be denied. Through sheer weight of numbers, they crushed one weapon turret after another, rendering the massive Overlord helpless. But still, they tried to escape. Oh, they tried hard. But it would do them no good. One of the main thrusters on the Dropship sputtered and died. Engine damage. The Overlord plummeted back to the ground, gaining enough speed to smash the ship to scrap. With the Overlord seeming to fall directly toward him, a part of Xiao thought that some god of the ancients had heard his wish- no, _need_- for vengeance. For retribution.

At practically the last second, the crew of the Overlord fired off emergency thrusters, sending the vessel first struggling to fly clumsily, to finally landing none too gently some distance away with an impact that shook the very earth. Xiao dimly realized somebody was screaming. Perhaps it was the other officers. Perhaps it was him. Perhaps it was in his mind. It didn't matter. Xiao took the screaming as the signal to start moving. He broke ranks with the others almost immediacy, leaving some of them to follow after his charge with some surprise and uncertainty.

As Xiao was making his mad rush to the Dropship, virtually alone and unsupported, the artillery fired to cover his advance. Streaking far over his Dragon's shoulders, shells and missiles joined the rain to pummel the stricken Dropship and much of the surrounding area. Huge flowers of mud and flame blossomed everywhere, sending jolting vibrations into his very bones with each birth of destruction. Mud, wet and sticky, pattered down upon him, staining his armor with a patina of rust-red earth. He didn't notice.

The pirates were deploying, organizing their dazed and stricken forces in to something resembling a defense. With their officers screaming at them, no doubt, mechs and vehicles fanned out into a semi-circular pattern, each one reeling with every single shuddering near miss of artillery. Even with the rain bringing some of it down, the mud and smoke filled the air with much, obscuring warriors from one another. Coordination was nearly impossible. A few had spotted Xiao's Dragon by now. A pair of heavy lasers sliced into his leg. A hastily launched salvo of LRMs peppered his general area. He didn't care.

Charging at full speed through shit and muck, he surprised his first foe utterly. The Commando had been making its way through a cloud of mud when Xiao appeared right in front of him. Jerking in alarm, he slammed on his jump jets and fired wildly. His involuntary action meant his SRMs and lasers went far above the Dragon's form. It also meant that instead of being able to dodge the incoming mech, he was still very much in the way. With a crack and squeal of tortured metal, the Dragon's shoulders smashed into the rising Commando's shins, overbalancing and ultimately flipping the much smaller design away like a rag doll. Xiao didn't stop. He barely even noticed.

He began to shoot. He fired his heavy autocannon, blasting a Whitworth's head from its shoulders. He fired his medium lasers, a Bulldog tank died. He fired again, sending a Dervish crashing to the ground without a leg.

He fired. He trampled. He punched. He crushed. He killed. He killed. He _killed_. He killed all he could find.

He became the perfect weapon. Concepts between man and machine blurred. He was the Dragon. The Dragon was him. He became the ultimate warrior. If you asked him his purpose in life at this moment, his answer would be 'to kill'. And he would be speaking truly. At this moment in time, his past became meaningless. His future became meaningless. There was only the present. The killing. And whatever names or reasons he might once have used to justify his actions also became meaningless. All that mattered was a face and an unending drive of revenge. Her face. He could not recall her name, but with that face came that extreme stabbing of pain. Pain he translated into hate. Hate he translated into rage. And that was all that mattered.

He gestured and men died, some fighting, some confused. Some died cursing his form, while other died fleeing having soiled themselves. It did not matter what they did or attempted to do. They all died the same. Autocannon rounds whipped through the air mixing with PPC and laser beams, thundering reports hammering a cacophonous drumming with no recognizable beat a sane mind could detect. Some found their mark. Most didn't. Many mechwarriors mistakenly fired upon their allies in the confusion, only to be drilled in turn by accurate shots as Xiao traced their position. When three minutes passed and Capellan forces finally entered the field, they found the burning husks of numerous mechs, tanks, and infantry. Fully half of the remaining pirates were dead.

Xiao dropped out of the Dragon's cockpit onto the ruined walkway. He had slaughtered everyone who stood in the way, then barged into the Dropship's mechbay with brute force. Infantry had tried to stop him with Inferno launchers, but that didn't stop him. Ignoring the rising heat curve, he strafed the infantry with lasers, cutting many of them down. He smashed them and everything else nearby with fists and feet, flooding the general area with oily flame puddles and screams. The survivors wisely fled from the flaming demon. Yes, that was what he was. A Demon.

Before he exited the mech to pursue his goal, he destroyed every other mech and vehicle in the hanger. He took an unnatural perverted pleasure in crushing the skull of a seared and scarred Atlas, although he didn't know why.

Checking his laser pistol and thumbing on his vibro-sword, he began making his way into the very guts of the Dropship.

**break**

"By the Ten Hells…"

Sao Wei Clay silenced the warrior who spoke on the comm., although he shared his awe…and fear. The devastation he saw was unbelievable, especially since it had been created by one man. It seemed worthier of a battalion or at least a deity of mythical status. He estimated almost 30 battlemechs and at least half that number of vehicles lay contorted and burning on the field. And he couldn't even guess at the number of infantry who had perished. It was true, the artillery had done its job. But Clay could see very well that the killing blows that destroyed so many enemies were not the product of brutal area-saturation munitions, but the surgical strikes of autocannon and lasers.

He dropped down from the Victor's shoulder for a closer look, his Fa Shih armor's knees flexing and easily absorbing the impact. Barely a moment later, his platoon followed. As he traced the laser burns on a Wolverine's cockpit with two armored fingers, he supposed that as an infantryman –even one trained in the use of power-armored Battlesuits- the magnitude of the slaughter was unimaginable. As infantry, he could never cause this much damage. Not directly at least. Perhaps the mechwarriors felt differently, although judging by the stunned movements of their mountainous companions, he doubted it.

How could Xiao be capable of this? Clay knew the answer. He was insane.

He had known that fact two weeks ago when Xiao first found Jen's body. He had seen the madness behind the cold eyes, and it had practically screamed itself at him when Xiao began to act apathetic.

It was confirmed at the beginning of this battle, when Xiao charged perhaps three battalions by himself. The man had been screaming at the top of his lungs, a cry the dredged up such feelings of loss and anger that it sent shivers up and down his spine. Clay had first tried to calm Xiao down over the comm., reasoning and pleading with him. However, after it became clear that Xiao wasn't even listening anymore, he ordered his warriors to switch to another frequency. He knew the other commanders had done the same.

He had expected many things. He had mostly expected Xiao to be cut down long before he got close to the pirates. He had expected then to find the Dragon wrecked form in the battle pulverized by friendly artillery or by concentrated enemy fire. He had even partially expected to find Xiao still fighting with some other warrior upon a bed of shell casings when the Capellan force arrived. What he did not expect was a field full of corpses, craters, and spent ammunition but no Xiao at all.

Where had he gone? Clay knew the answer to this as well. Judging by the evidence, Xiao wasn't going to stop until all the pirates were dead or he himself had died in that task. Probably both.

Xiao was in the crashed Dropship, hunting those who did him the most harm.

The real question was thus: Did Clay go after him?

For a few long moments, Clay did not move or say a word. Even as the rumble of weapon fire split the air once more as the remaining pirate mechs from the other dropships fought the Capellans did anything to distract him. His platoon sensed his need for silence and froze, allowing their leader to choose their plan of attack.

After an eternity of careful consideration, Clay turned toward the Overlord with a grim smile. It never really was a choice in the first place.

**break**

Vaguely, Xiao noted that the explosions had started again. Not that he actually cared. The world was already dead after all.

He was bleeding from a half dozen wounds and his left arm was mostly useless. The fight up to the bridge was long and vicious, enemy troopers hiding behind practically every corner waiting to pump metal and energy into the first warm body they saw. Xiao had lost some of his drive he found in the mech battle. Whether it was because he was regaining his senses or because he was steadily losing blood, he couldn't say. Hate and revenge drove him onward though. The vibrosword had proved extremely helpful, allowing him to deal damage in close quarters. He blocked bayonet thrusts, lopped off knife-welding hands at the wrists, and cut easily through barricades and armor. His prowess with the blade and martial arts allowed him to tear through the infantry one by one or in groups in a whirling dance of finesse and violence. It was a shame that some trooper managed to damage the power feed of the weapon with a lucky shot. Xiao killed him for his audacity.

He stood before the bridge doors, utterly decked with filth and blood. The flak armor he had scavenged was torn, cratered, and provided only the barest vestiges of protection. The last trooper and his two buddies had wounded him severely. The man was almost laughable, considering his Mohawk, numerous body piercings, and disfiguring facial tattoos. Xiao might indeed have laughed at him, if he had not been carrying a new model Imperator Shotcannon. Designed by the same company who provided the Inner Sphere war effort with LBx Autocannons, the Shotcannon was specifically designed for naval marines, with close in-fighting in mind. It was probably stolen. With it, the pirate had scattered shots around corners, flak and shrapnel bouncing into practically every corner that was possible to hide in. Shards of metal had torn into his shoulder, his left leg, and arm. One piece had almost taken out his eye. Xiao counted himself extremely lucky even as he raged against the near-injustice. Then something stabbed into right side of his chest, just above the seventh rib. He coughed, and was dismayed at the specks of blood that dotted the wall in front of him.

Fighting off and dizziness and exhaustion, he fell back and dealt with the pirate with a scavenged grenade. He took great pleasure in the panicked screams before the explosion and watching them try to get rid of it. When the little explosive fulfilled its purpose, there was no great firestorm. No flames at all, despite what the movies tended to show. Only a flash of bright light and an expanding sphere of irresistible force that clothes from skin, skin from flesh, and flesh from bone. He had walked over the mess and up the last shaft before coming before the great doors that concealed his destination.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the bridge.

A man that was edging the line to obesity and dressed in a faded gray uniform covered with icons that signified some rank was the first he saw. He stood in the center of the bridge, in the middle of yelling. But when he saw Xiao, he immediately stopped and raised his hands.

"We sur-"

Xiao shot him in the face with his pulse laser pistol. Panicked shouts filled the air as foes jumped to their feet, fell down, reached for weapons, or made many other useless movements. Even before the first victim fell, Xiao was shooting. Pulse laser pistol in his left hand. Needler pistol in his right. His fingers were nimble like a pianists, pulling the triggers faster than his foes could think. He killed with a dispassionate face even as his inner soul howled at them.

It was over in seconds.

Xiao saw his target, cowering behind a console, clutching at his arm. 'Lord' Henry Carmody. He made his way toward him. He paused. A female tech, probably one who manned the communications booth near her, clutched at him. Her throat was a scorched mess. She seemed to plead to him with wide tear filled eyes. With the rage momentarily pushed back, Xiao felt a pulse of emotion he had thought lost to him. Pity. With the pulse laser, he finished the job as quickly and painlessly as he could. Then his exterior hardened again as he saw his target trying to sneak away. His eyes narrowed. Where do you think you're going?

Xiao flung his empty needler into the man's legs as hard as he could. He went down with a howl. Despite a newly broken ankle, the man didn't stop. He wasn't stupid. He tried to crawl away. Xiao pounced upon him like a predatory cat, his calm façade suddenly **break**ing to show forth his anguish and rage. He was pissed.

"You fucking bastard!!"

Xiao hauled the Carmody up by his jacket and threw him across the room. Before the man could finish rebounding off the wall, Xiao was there to greet him with a swift kick to the gut. "Murderer!" Then he threw him again, smashing him over some terminals. "Rapist!!! "Xiao jumped on him again and proceeded to beat his face in.

"Die MotherFucker!!" he was screaming. Blood and teeth splattered over him. "DIE!!!"

Xiao paused a few moments from his punches to grab the Carmody's head and slam it on the ground. Then he started to strangle him. "I'll kill you!!! Kill you!!! KILL you fucking DEAD!!!!!"

With tears streaming out of his eyes and making revolting gagging sounds, the man mouthed the words-

"I'm sorry?! You're sorry?!!? Too late!! TooFUCKINGLate!!!!!!!!"

In his act of vengeance, he took great care in studying his love's killer. When the man's eyes began to roll back into his head, Xiao reluctantly released him and stood, regaining his façade of apathy again. With an explosive rush of breathe, Carmody began gasping gratefully for air. Xiao eyed him.

"Thank…thank you…" Carmody managed.

Xiao raised an eyebrow. "For what?" he asked, cruelty filling his voice.

Carmody looked up incredulously at him, with hope and fear in his expression. "For…sparing my life?"

Xiao laughed at him. "Spare your life?" The man who had killed his true love? His Jen?! His world?! His universe?!! His reason for living?!?? "Spare your life? I don't think so." He slid a spare battery clip into the pulse laser pistol.

"Please…!" The man looked about to start crying again.

"Shut up and die like a man."

"You can't do this! It's…it's…it's illegal!"

Xiao flipped off the safety and leveled the weapon.

"Watch me."

He started shooting.

Clay tossed off his helmet and wriggled out of his suit. The fight to get to the Dropship was hard enough, but then once his platoon had reached it, it seemed Xiao wasn't nearly as efficient in killing off all the pirates as he thought. Infantry had flooded the corridors, and each step had to be fought for. Which, at first, was easy enough. Battlesuit armor was more than a match for conventional infantry, even in the cramped confines of a Dropship. Course, that's when the enemy decided to start firing off SRM launchers. Inside a ship no less! Not that they didn't soon learn the error of their ways. Still, several of Clay's warriors had gone down. In the last attack, Clay's armor was first disabled then buried under a rain of steel girders. So, now he had to proceed without the benefit of super-strength and armor protection. But at least no one seemed to be left alive in front of him. To his rear, he could hear the remnants of the platoon blasting at the defenders with everything at their disposal. Part of him wanted to stay and support them…somehow. But he moved on, motivated by his loyalty to his friend. And the sounds of nearby gun shots.

**break**

Carmody was screaming, flailing his limbs around uselessly in agony. Xiao watched.

For the last ten minutes, that was how it went. Xiao started off by shooting off Carmody's left kneecap. The laser had cauterized the wound the instant it struck, so there was no fear of the man bleeding to death. After a little bit, Xiao shot off the other kneecap. And then the upper thigh. Xiao had grinned at Carmody's expression as he realized he was being 'laddered'.

Xiao went for the joints, avoiding fatal wounds. He wanted to draw out the other man's suffering as long as possible. It was only fair.

At one point, Carmody moaned. Xiao took this as a cue to shoot him in the elbow, resulting in another bout of screaming and cursing. He smiled.

"Xiao…" A voice. Behind him. Xiao turned slowly to face the new comer. It was Clay, and he looked like hell. Although Xiao probably looked much worse. More to the point, Clay looked horrified. "What are you doing?!"

Xiao raised an eyebrow. "What does it look like? I'm killing him."

He wavered slightly as he spoke, and gave a wet cough. Clay was alarmed to see a thin line of blood drool from one corner of Xiao's mouth. A quick glance confirmed his fears.

"Come on, we need to get you to a medic." Clay pressed on as Xiao shook his head vehemently. "You're hurt bad, man. Come-"

"No. Not with the deed left undone." Xiao rasped. "Not with this fucker still alive."

"Let the courts deal with him, he'll get what he deserves," Clay argued.

"The courts? You think they'll dispense justice? They won't."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll _punish_ him, but it's not the same thing," Xiao spat. "He killed my Jen. He _killed_ her. Now I'm gonna return the favor." He looked at Clay, "If I hand him over to the authorities, they might sentence him to jail. But that's not enough. If there's ANY chance that this fuck gets to live, I want none of it. Shit, even if they sentence him to death, it's still far too merciful for him." He tapped the barrel of his pistol on Carmody's forehead. "Oh, you're gonna die. But you're gonna die slowly and painfully. Just like…like…"

Clay edged closer, trying to get in a position to jump his friend. Xiao clearly wasn't in his right mind. "You can't kill him. It's against the Conventions, Xiao. Fuck, look at what you've done to him already!" Clay tried an old clichéd tactic. "You're better than him. Don't sink to his level."

"Revenge is a savage justice, that's for sure." Clay was unsure if Xiao had even listened to him, as he continued to ramble on with an unfocused look in his eyes. "A savage's justice. The only true justice. Law isn't justice. Not really. Law takes place of revenge so that society can survive. So civilization doesn't tear itself apart. But it can't take the place of revenge. Never. It can never give the punishment truly equal to the crime."

Clay suddenly found the pistol locked onto his face. Xiao gave him a tired, but attentive look. "And don't spout off that shit about being above his level. I don't give a shit about that. He killed my Jen. And because of that, he has killed me. I can never forgive this. I _won't._"

"I can't let you do this," Clay said slowly.

"What are you going to do about it," Xiao smirked at him, "shoot me? You don't even have a gun. Here." He tossed his pulse laser pistol to Clay who fumbled with to get a grip on its blood-slicked surface.

"I'll do it. I don't want to, but for fuck's sake, I'll do it if you don't get off that man RIGHT NOW."

"Oh really? You'll stop me from murdering Jen's murderer?" Xiao brought one booted foot high, ready to crush Carmody's throat. "Well, if you're going to do it, you had better do it now."

The foot started down.

Oh god, I'm sorry Jen Clay aimed the pistol at Xiao's knee, hoping to disable him before he could land the blow.

CRACK

Clay stared at the pistol, not comprehending what had just happened.

"I spent the last shot on his crotch," Xiao said almost conversationally.

Not knowing what to say, Clay just nodded numbly. Together, they watched the man die. It took a long time.

And although he would _never_ admit it to himself, let alone anyone else, he felt satisfied in the way the killer met his end.

Then Xiao collapsed.

"MEDIC!!"

**break**

"So you're leaving." The statement made the other man pause. It wasn't a question, but rather a statement of the obvious.

Xiao stayed still for a long time, hands tucked into his sack, collecting belongings. "Yes," he said, revealing little.

Clay shifted uncomfortably. "You don't have to, you know."

"Yes, I do." Xiao fixed him with a blank stare. "There's nothing left for me here."

"You should stay. I hear the brass is fixing to get you a medal and a promotion." Then seeing that humor wasn't working, Clay added, "And you still haven't recovered."

That went without saying. It had been five weeks since the 'incident'. Xiao had nearly almost died. Actually, considering the lack of blood in his body, the medics couldn't understand why he wasn't dead already. He was only still here because members of what was left of his command rushed to donate blood to their commanding officer. Clay himself would have been first in line if he hadn't already known his blood-type wasn't compatible.

"I don't care. It doesn't matter anymore."

Clay bristled slightly in irritation at Xiao's responses. Then he asked, "Where will you go?"

"To the Periphery. The Lyran Alliance maybe. Anywhere that I can go with my mech."

The Dragon had been a shattered wreck, but due to Xiao's sudden odd protectiveness of it, he had it restored to full working condition. Even customized it a bit. He painted the whole thing black, and restored the faded text on the torso to visibility. It read 'Furious Angel'. Clay still had no clue as to what it might signify, or why Xiao deemed it important.

"I guess this is it." Xiao stood and faced Clay.

Clay swallowed at the lack of expression Xiao was displaying and suddenly found himself at an annoying loss for words.

"Goodbye."

Managing to dredge up something, he spoke to Xiao's departing form. "According to my official report, Henry Carmody died when an artillery barrage struck the bridge. He and the crew that was with him at the time were burnt alive to ashes. Completely unrecoverable."

Xiao didn't even turn around. He just started walking again, turning the corner, and disappeared.

Clay knew he would never see James Xiao Liao alive ever again.

As Xiao rode the Dropship up into the stratosphere, he thought back to what he had seen. After he fallen, everything had started to turn white. Not blindingly so, but still pure white as he had ever imagined it. Maybe he had just been hallucinating, but he had seen her. Jen. She was walking toward him with a joyous yet sad smile on her lips. Gone were the terrible wounds, the scratches, the bruises, the dirt. Watching her long jet black hair fan out behind her, Xiao knew he was looking upon the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He laughed, happy with joy, feeling himself being purified in her presence. His cares, all the terrible things that had happened, everything became just a distant bad memory. He ran for her, ready to scoop her up and twirl her around.

But then a jabbing pain had lanced through his arm. He stopped and stood looking at his arm as if it had turned into a snake. What WAS that?

Then he noticed it. It was getting darker. It was starting to gray a bit at the edges of his vision. No!

He looked to Jen in horror as it seemed he was falling away from her. She looked upon with infinite sadness.

Before the blackness took him and he heard the vague chatter proclaiming he had a pulse, she spoke to him. As if she were right next to him, she whispered into his ear.

"I'll wait for you. Take your time. I love you."

And then she was gone.

I'll find my way back to you, Jen. Soon, he thought.

Tears plinked onto the cold metal surface of the Dropship decking.

-------------------------------------------

FINI Part 1 "Savage Justice", Part one of Divine Comedy

-Sandman

-Advised by Fury

Note: Take that, Francis Bacon!


	2. Transition

Divine Comedy Quadrillogy:

Ch1 Savage Justice

Ch2 Transition

Ch3 Shattered Reflection

Ch4 Cracked Mirror

Ch2

"Unbelievable!"

The announcer was at it again.

My skin steamed with perspiration. Water sloshed around my legs, dark as pitch. Oily patterns flowed from ruptured guts, lifeblood of corpses. The corpses, inanimate objects of what were once proud warriors, lay mired in various grotesque positions that captured the essence of their agony. Half submerged, half protruding, they lay strewn around the room covered with black water.

I was their king. A king of corpses. In a land where none could rise, a man who stood would rule.

"I've never seen anything like it! Well, there was that time in '67 with Talon and a few times before that, but certainly nothing like it since! For the first time in five years, a mercenary, and a newcomer at that, stands victorious in a Solaris Championship after only one season! Sandman has triumphed where 32 others could not! In the Black Cage Arena, he reigns supreme! This is Dun-"

I switched off the comm. net and started back to the entrance bay.

It was a hard fight. The Dragon was holed in more than one place. Flashing lights blinked incessantly warning of failures. But I was still alive.

I took a breath and closed my eyes as the massive elevator started to lift me out of the cavernous area. The wailing of emergency vehicles as they raced to rescue downed pilots, the grinding of giant gears, and the sizzling pop of cooling metal…they all melted away as I relived the highlights of the battle, replaced by...

…the chattering roar of two massive LB20x autocannons. The cluster rounds, specially designed for pyrotechnics, emitted blazing white phosphorous trails before smashing into the reeling Marauder's side, brutally smashing aside already savaged armor to tear away at internal structure. The shots jarred the Marauder pilot's aim, and two HVPPC bolts stabbed into the water in front of me, flashing tons of liquid into superheated gas in nanoseconds. The steam cloud blocked my view and the Marauder's as well, which suited my purposes just fine. The enemy mech took a hesitant step forward and leveled its intimidating weaponry at the spot where he guessed I would appear. He guessed wrong. 

I dove out of the cloud behind him, water splashing each way as I ran. My Dragon's paired Heavy Lasers lit up. The beams cut into the damaged torso like a surgeon's scalpel and the massive Heavy Gauss Rifle mounted above the MAD's head tore loose with a sizable chunk of the torso and splashed down. The rest of the mech followed seconds later, plowing face first underwater.

_That would bump my kill count this evening to five. Already an _Argus_, a _Shadowhawk_, a _Hellspawn_, and an _Atlas_ lay burning somewhere within the _Black Cage_. The _Atlas_ was interesting. Bristling with weapons and armor, it had come bearing down on me just as I was putting the _Shadowhawk_ out of its misery. Unfortunately, the great skull visage of the assault mech, designed to inflict terror upon opponents, was also an extremely tempting target. Most likely, the enemy pilot did not survive._

"_The Black Bell tolls and Rodriguez is down! Five kills in less than five minutes! Only 3 left in the arena, but I'm sure everyone is waiting for the showdown between Sandman and Jode. It's gonna be one helluva fight!"_

_Ah yes, Jode. The Clan warrior was probably the most dangerous opponent on the field. Her skills, coupled with her 80-ton _Canis_, had granted her quite a winning streak. If she kept to her usual style, her combat style would be to range back and cut loose with her extended range lasers at a safe distance. She would deal with anyone who got closer with her own dual LB20xs. She was massively armored and could deal heavy damage at long range and short range. But not both. If I was going to challenge her, I was going to have to close the distance extremely quickly. Which wasn't really a problem._

_Running at 89 kph and only slightly slowed by the indoor sea, it wasn't long before I saw her. She was exchanging fire with a _Talos_, a nasty assault mech that mounted multiple Rotary autocannons and rockets. The _Talos_ was one of those mechs you had to keep out of line of sight. Its particular weapon configuration had been known to tear a mech apart in seconds alone. In this case though, the _Talos_ was getting the worst of the fight. _

_Streaking shells burst all over the _Canis_, but in an unfocused manner, crushing armor plates but doing very little damage in actuality. The _Canis_ fired its jumpjets and soared backwards, and cut loose with a quartet of bright green lasers. I noted the greenish mist that vented from the 'mech. Jode was flushing coolant; she must be close to overheating. The _Talos's_ right arm exploded, and it stumbled back under cover of a metal pillar. Unfortunately, that meant it was now in my firing zone._

_Perhaps catching me in the corner of his eye, the _Talos_ turned and fired off a salvo of RACs and rockets, but I had already started dodging. The rockets missed. They never really had a chance when the target was as quick as I was. The RACs though tore into my left arm and torso. I returned fire with the Heavy lasers, but one of the advantages of using RACs was that it tended to shake and disrupt an opponent's aim. The lasers shot to either side of the assault mech, burning white-hot pits into the pillar behind it. _

_And then the stream of fire stopped. One of the _disadvantages_ of RACs was that continued use often caused them to jam. With the incoming fire stopped, I settled my crosshairs on the stricken 'mech. My own autocannon shots sent explosive shrapnel into the shredded right side of the mech, tearing through giant ribs, cables, heat sinks, gyro, and engine. The _Talos_ toppled over and then exploded with the force of a small nuke, making small tidal waves smash into my legs. I handled them without trouble and went to hunt my last opponent. _

_I found her waiting for me in an open area, still venting heat, but ready for a fight. I could almost feel her arrogance displayed in her mech's wide stance. She didn't even bother to raise her weapon arms._

_There was a flash of static as she activated her comm., no doubt preparing to make some sort of dramatic speech. She had learned well to cater to the audience. Pity that I felt like winning the match rather than posturing. I'll never know what she was about to say._

"_You- _Freebirth_!" I wondered if the curse was directed at me or was just an exclamation of surprise. Probably the latter as I had just broke into a full charge directly at her. Her weapon arms came up but I fired first, hoping to knock off her aim. Autocannon shells detonated on the _Canis's_ upper chest and the lasers stabbed deep into its belly. To my disappointment, she had not fired at all. Instead, the _Canis _dropped down on one knee to absorb the blow and waited for a full second before letting off the barrage._

_I barely had enough time to twist and shield myself with my right arm. The ERLL lasers slashed at my legs, sending molten metal flying in all directions. Autocannon fire ripped into me, shredding my arm to pieces, rupturing my own autocannon. I grit my teeth in pain. I stumbled, but made a little hop to correct my balance. The _Canis_ loomed in front of me, almost ten meters away. Jode tried to jump out of the way, but she was too late._

_I buried my shoulder into her gut, a gut wrenching impact that crushed armor, vital components, and compromised structural integrity. The attack hurt. A lot._

_But it worked._

_The _Canis_ doubled up with the hit and was flung backwards. With jets still activated, she soared until slamming into the arena walls, crushing beams and video equipment. Then she fell again into the water face first from 20 meters up._

_She did not rise._

I breathed out.

"Good fight."

I turned to the elderly man walking his way toward me, picking his way through scattered equipment and coolant spills.

"I trust you were entertained," I said as he reached me, looking up as I swung myself off the Dragon's leg, "…Master Wu."

The elderly owner of the Jade Tigers, a Liao affiliated mech stable in Solaris, cackled as I landed on the ground before him. "So formal! I had thought by now you would consider me more than a business partner!"

To this I would give no answer. I didn't know of a polite way to put it.

Master Wu chose to go on as if the silence had not existed. "Come then, it is time to discuss some business matters. Over tea perhaps."

He was already walking away before I could decline. I sighed. Apparently, there was no avoiding it.

Master Kung Wu had done well for himself in his 80 years. The Jade Tigers, numbering 42 pilots and 23 mechs, was not the most successful stable around. Still, they performed above average, filling the old man's coffers. Of course, in the last six months, I too had contributed greatly to his wealth.

Much of Wu's money had been funneled into his residence. An extravagantly lavished manor was designed with strong Chinese themes. Red rosewood carved into panels, chairs, and tables. Black marble floor with subtle patterns in the shape of sinewy dragons. Mind dynasty vases, Jade carvings, and archaic looking paintings. All of which was probably counterfeit, but I couldn't tell the difference. I was comforted by the sense of familiarity.

Almost as much as that infernal music disturbed me.

Somewhere, in the masses of artificial streams and furniture was a music box, playing a wordless mantra of soft music. Its tones were solemn but tinged with only what I could describe as…madness. If such a thing could ever be heard and distinguished.

I wondered, as I sat next to him for tea, how he could possibly stand it. And even like it.

"So, Mr. Xiao…oh yes, no names. My apologies." Master Wu took a sip, sounding remarkably without regret. "You are now the man in the light. Fortune does appear to smile down upon you. Six months and you have become a champion. An _undefeated_ champion, at that. With my support, of course."

I eyed him over my cup but said nothing. I knew what was coming, but to misstep now would be…unfortunate.

"At these times, a man can only be expected to ask himself what the next step will be." The Master leaned forward. "And I think you will agree that your time spent with me has been agreeable. I can make you a very rich man, should you desire."

He was a little impatient today. Perhaps it was because he knew he could not win. He was merely going through the process.

"Master Wu," I began carefully. "I thank you for your patronage, but as I explained to you before, this was a very short contract. I will not renew. It is time for me to move on."

One year ago, I had arrived on his doorstep looking for patronage. I gave a deal he couldn't refuse. I was here merely to fight. I didn't require payment or favors. I came with my own mech and I proved I had the skills required. All I asked in return was that he pay for damages and ammunition. We both got what we wanted.

We both knew he could have resorted to other methods of persuasion. Blackmail. Drug addictions. Even confiscation of assets. But I had no family. No need of drugs. And I was a champion now. I could be extremely damaging to his reputation if he acted against me. So he really had no choice but hope I wanted to stay. Besides, I was a fellow Capellan.

"That is too bad. Too bad indeed." I tensed. Of course, Master Wu could be a lot more foolish than I thought. Wu, however, only appeared slightly amused at my caution. "So, where will you go to seek your _hopeless battle_? Or will you return to the Compact?"

I had given the matter some thought, so I answered him immediately. "I will join a mercenary company. Specifically, I will search for one that will most likely enter combat with the Clans."

"Ahh yeeesss…fierce and well trained warriors." His wizened brow drew back as he appraised me. "As a matter of fortuity, I _do_ know of a few units who fit your desire. Perhaps I should contact them for you?"

No doubt, Wu was hoping that if I ever changed my mind, there wouldn't be any bad blood between us. Considering I did not intend to go back, I doubted it would happen.

"I would appreciate that, Master Wu." I bowed with hand clasped over fist.

It took less than a week. I was using the lavatories at the Sin Bin. Yes, I know what you're thinking. But I was there strictly on business. I was to meet my possible employer at the strip club at precisely 0500 hours. He never arrived. I had waited there for two hours before deciding he wasn't coming. So instead, I decided I needed to wash my hands. The tables and chairs of the club were uncomfortably sticky. I hadn't really wanted to think about it.

I ran my hands under water and scrubbed them with soap up to my forearms. I really couldn't get over the feeling of being filthy. I scratched until the dragons tattooed on my skin flushed a healthy red.

"So, _this_ is the big bad champion mechwarrior…"

I snapped my head up and looked into the mirror. There, reflected behind me was another man. A man I _knew_ wasn't there before. He was of oriental descent and was dressed, oddly, in white. I could pick out no logos on him, but he was clearly in a uniform of some kind. The dual pistol holsters strapped to his hips left no doubt as to his profession. Mechwarrior.

"May I…help you?" I said, uncertainly. It could be an attack. Some jealous rival who I never bothered to meet maybe.

"Well, it's more of a I-help-you you-help-me kind of thing. Name is Vaz. Johnny Vaz. Though most peeps in the biz call me 'Spork'." He extended a hand.

What? No corny cheese line like 'And the ladies call me, 'Oh God!''?

I cautiously shook his hand and said, "What sort of business are you in?"

"I kill people."

I retracted my hand and shifted to a more defensible stance. "I'm afraid that encompasses a great many professions, sir."

"Ah, then allow me to be more precise." The man hopped up for a seat on the sink behind him. "I am a mercenary. I am the commander of the Blood Mist Legion…and I want you to be in it."

I relaxed a bit. "You are my employer?"

"I'm not the one you were expecting, but I am the one you were waiting for, I can promise that much."

"What are the terms and where are we going?" I asked.

"Well, the terms are 10,000 c-bills per month for 3 months. Any repairs are split 50/50. You get a third of any salvage you bring down. As to the rest…" Spork grinned savagely. "We're going to Minoru to fight Clan Wolf."

Clan Wolf! Reportedly the most dangerous of the Clans, and certainly the most successful, the Wolves had been making periodic raids into the Inner Sphere for the past 3 years. Originally the descendents of the exiled Star League army centuries ago, the Clans had invaded the Inner Sphere in order to restore their idea of order. Genetically engineered freaks bred solely for battle, they had smashed the Free Rasalhague Republic and tore a damned big chunk out of the Lyran Alliance and Draconis Combine. And Clan Wolf was the most cunning, if not most ferocious, of them all. At least, that was what I heard.

"Worthy opponents. I agree to your terms."

Johnny Vaz. Of course that wasn't his real name, but I couldn't have known that at the time.

He was slightly bigger than me, broader in the shoulders and arms, while still maintaining the slenderness generally associated with those of Asian-descent. He was also a whole lot meaner. Talking to him, you'd figure he was a nice enough sort, but in truth he hid quite a mean streak.

He could be quite ruthless both on the battlefield and…well, actually, he was pretty much ruthless and dangerous wherever he was. I wouldn't go so far as to say he was psychopathic or anything, but he did appear to place a much lower value on human life than normally accepted. And let's not even get started on animals.

During my subsequent voyage with him toward the Outer Rim, I found out the origin of his moniker.

I had lots of time by myself, and to tell the truth, I rather preferred it that way. However, at meal-time, this was never an option. If I didn't want to eat ration packs all day, then I would have to join the others for what passed as cooked food for these…people.

I was sitting by myself of course. No one disturbed me anymore, so I could eat in peace and gather intelligence. Another reason I bothered eating with the others was that I could grasp a general idea of what was going on in our Dropship without actually asking anyone.

I used a curious but advantageous part of human nature in this endeavor. As it turns out when you're quiet, seclude yourself, and fail to socialize with others, sooner or later, others stop remembering you're actually there. People will blab about practically anything, even gossip about myself, when they assume I'm not paying attention. Not that this really proved fruitful. Mostly, they only made scandalous remarks and some obscene jokes about each other. To tell the truth, it was usually to the point when I would really rather not listen to them, but old habits are difficult to break. But occasionally there was something of use in their banter, like schedules of maintenance drills, rumors of possible water rationing, and today, some information on our mutual employer.

One of the rookie pilots was asking around about call-signs, possibly so he could figure a good one for himself. He attracted my attention when I heard my own being uttered. Without visibly detracted from my current task of spearing what was hopefully meat, I perked an ear and listened in.

"Well, like I said, most people make up their call-signs because they make sense for them." One of the vets was saying. At the time, I couldn't have been bothered to learn any of their names.

"Well, what about Sandman over there? What, does he sleep all the time?"

"Nah, newbie. There's an older story to that. Apparently, while he was in being interviewed by a bunch of bigwigs back in the arenas, a bunch of his opponents in the arena decided to jump him. Right on Holo Cast! And one of these guys was really a muscle mountain, I tell ya. You know, the kinda of shmucks who bend steel bars with their eyebrows."

"No way, dog! What'd he do?"

"Hell, kid. I dunno what happened, but he knocked every single one of those punks out cold. Like, in a blink of the eye, they were all down. Frickin' amazing."

"What, him? …I think I could take him."

"No, newbie." The other guy almost sounded gentle. "You couldn't."

"So what about Spork? Where'd he get his?" Someone else was asking. "Pretty damned weird if you ask me."

Some laughter. "Oh, yeah, that happened a while ago. You ever hear of Osgil?"

"Is that a place?"

"Yeah, some little hell-hole in the Periphery. We were hunting pirates out there, but then we got jumped while we were still in space. Bastards boarded the Dropship and captured the lot of us. Not Spork though. He was holed up in his cabin, but then made his way to the bridge. And get this: he was only armed with a spork!"

"One of these?"

"Probably. Anyway, he just walked right up to the bridge, and the pirates saw him. Tried to take him alive, but it didn't work out very well. He used it like a knife, coming in close and cut at their faces and throats, like this! …And that!"

"Stop that. And then what happened?"

"Well, after killing everyone on the bridge, he hunted the rest down. It wasn't every interesting after the bridge. But you should have seen it! It's like he buried the spork right in the eye of this one guy!" The vet was saying all this with a bit too much relish.

I put down my spork. I didn't want to eat anyway.

"Wow. Is that really true?"

"No."

I glanced over and saw that Johnny himself had decided to join the conversation.

"What? Which part?"

"Well, I had a fork. And I had five of them." He said with a chuckle.

"What's got you in a good mood, boss?"

Johnny, getting up, spoke to us all. "Pack your stuff. We're making land fall tomorrow. Within the week, I expect to be killing Clanners."

------------------------------------------

Fini part2


	3. Dream Sequence

Time, like a wave of darkness, crashes into me and slows.  
I fall into it's clutches until it swallows me whole.  
I notice _his_ presence. I try to run, but there is no way I can escape _him_.  
I flee, but guilt and rage weigh me down, giant stones across my shoulders, willing me, forcing me to fall.  
I cannot fall. I will not. Yet my other self begs me to. Screams at me. Threatens me. Forces me.

I move on, but he follows me like the shadow of the damned. I cannot escape. I cannot escape. I am falling toward his grasping hands. If he catches me, I will surely die.

I near the beginning. The dark fog parts before me, but remains present to consume my future. I notice for the first time the smell. Burning flesh. It was unmistakable. Repulsive. Tempting. Overwhelming. She is here. Her eyes are upon me. I feel her accusing stare boring into the depths of my soul, in the only way the dead can look upon their killers. She is beautiful.

Her grey lips murmured in my ear.

Why?

I had no answer to give. It was the question that damned me. The most important and valuable one.

I screamed denial at her. I cursed her. I killed her again and again, but she remained a phoenix reborn. I begged her forgiveness.

She fled. Away from me. I couldn't let her go. I followed. She was fast. Too fast for me. I couldn't keep up. She streaked away, leaving echoes in her wake.

I stumbled after her, knocking over stretchers and IV stands, spilling boxes full of papers, scalpels, bandages, and bullets onto the grimy walls and floor, splattering them with her blood. I followed her through the halls of tattered photos. They were all of her. Lying there with her hair fanned out like a halo matted with blood and torn tissue. I followed her through the morgue, stepping on the bodies of the fallen. Their fire blackened fingers grasping at my ankles, their cries both piteous and accusing.

You killed us. You killed us all.  
You deserve this. You should be here with us.  
Mommy, make the bad man go away. Make him die.  
Xiao, you're out of control.  
Surrender.  
Traitor.

I ignored them, like I always did.  
A door to a morgue slab opened. She lay there, among them. Above them all, upon a table of light. I slowly reached for her.

Xiao.

Her voice was husky, her tone was playful. She sat and opened her arms to me. I took her embrace gratefully.  
Her cold fingers traced my face, pleasing it its familiarity even as it left the blood streaks upon my cheek. Her voice took on a pleading tone that broke my heart, wounding me mortally like a bullet wound in the belly, promising slow, lingering, and loving death.

Why, Xiao?  
I'm sorry.  
Please…don't.  
Why?  
Don't kill me.  
Let me go.  
Please.

I sobbed on her shoulder, a broken man. Was it any wonder I loved her? She forgave me. She _forgave me_. I wasn't worthy. Not of her. Not of love. Not of life.

Please.

I echoed her, but for my own reasons.

I sensed _him_ lurking just beyond my vision. I couldn't stay. I couldn't let _him _seeing me with her.

I ran.

I woke.

I remained silent.


End file.
